


Two Different Sick Days

by Phelpsgirlxxx



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Homeless Nico, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Medication, Not Canon Compliant, Pneumonia, Protective Will, Sick Nico, Sickness, Worry, collapse, sick, worried percy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28958802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phelpsgirlxxx/pseuds/Phelpsgirlxxx
Summary: Two different sick days taking place a few years apart.Better than summary.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Paul Blofis/Sally Jackson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 124





	Two Different Sick Days

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this very quickly, sorry if it's terrible.

Nico groaned as he slumped down onto the floor.

His whole body was aching and his head was pounding, and he was fairly sure he had a fever. He wanted nothing more than to curl up under a blanket and sleep. He knew he was getting sick, but he also knew he couldn’t afford to. He needed to be on his feet ready to move at a moment's notice. Instead, the thought of moving at all made him want to cry.

Burying close into his coat, which had worryingly enough started to become too big while a few months earlier it had been the right size, he closed his eyes. He brought his knees to his chest, curling in on himself, not caring that it made it harder to breathe, which he was already struggling with and drifted off to sleep.

PJOHOOTOA.

Nico wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep, but he knew he felt worse than he had before.

He could barely breathe, his head was pounding and his whole body ached. He knew he wasn’t going to get better without medicine, that much was clear, especially as he wasn’t looking after himself, not that he really had the option. He didn’t have a bed to rest in, or blankets to keep him warm. He had tried to light a fire and failed. 

Some medication would be his best bet.

Slowly, Nico stood up, sticking his hand in his pocket and finding the crisp ten dollar note inside of it. He had been saving it for when he knew his body wouldn’t be able to survive without food, but he knew if he didn’t want to get sicker, he’d have to do something.

Rubbing at his eyes hard, he braced himself against the wall, before taking as deep a breath as he could manage, and shadow travelling away.

He arrived outside a CVS, and coughed into the crook of his elbow, before pushing the door open carefully, trying his hardest to stop himself from passing out. He knew shadow travelling while sick was a bad idea, but he wasn’t sure what else to do.

Traipsing around the store, trying through bleary eyes to see the signs wasn’t helping, and Nico sighed. He wasn’t even sure what he was meant to be looking for. He had no recollection of getting sick enough to need medication before, although with input from the Lethe, that wasn’t entirely surprising.

Finally, he took a deep breath and made his way to the counter.

“Hi there, how can I help you today?”

Nico coughed into the crook of his elbow.

“I need some cold medication.” He told the cashier, voice croaking.

The man at the desk looked down at him and sighed.

“Do you have any ID?”

“Hmm?” Nico muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“ID, you need to be twelve to buy even simple medication, and if you look under sixteen we have to ask for ID. Do you have any?”

Nico’s heart sank.

He wasn’t even sure if he technically existed in the eyes of the law, and he wasn’t twelve even if he did have ID.

“It doesn’t matter.” He muttered, turning away from the counter and trying to stifle a cough.

“If you come back with one of your parents, I’ll be able to get it for you, okay kid?”

Nico waved a hand dismissively, and slowly made his way out of the chemist, cursing to himself slightly. Outside, he collapsed against a wall for a few moments, desperately trying to stand upright and come up with a plan. It took him a while with his aching, exhausted brain, but it finally hit him.

He technically didn’t know anyone apart from Percy and Annabeth, and while they didn’t particularly like him, they might give him some tablets if he asked, and he could also offer them the money for it if they were desperate.

The idea of going to Camp Half-Blood to check if Annabeth was there scared him, so with a sigh, he resigned himself to having to visit Percy, despite really not wanting the son of Poseidon to see him in his current position. With another sigh, he stepped into a shadow, moments later appearing at the door of the Jackson apartment.

He braced himself for a moment before knocking carefully on the door.

He wasn’t entirely sure who’d answer the door as he had no idea what day of the week it was, but he hoped it’d be Percy, getting an adult involved just seemed like a bad idea.

Finally, the door swung open and Percy opened it, his mouth dropping open as he saw the son of Hades in front of him.

“Nico? Dude, are you okay? You look terrible! What are you doing here?”

Nico opened his mouth to respond, but cut himself off as a coughing fit tore through him, erupting from his chest and causing him to collapse against the door frame. Percy’s hands immediately shot forward to catch him, but the son of Poseidon clearly seemed to think better of it, instead keeping his hands outstretched, but not touching the boy, in case it seemed as if the son of Hades was going to fully collapse.

“I’m fine. I was just wondering if you have any cold and flu medication I could have, I can pay you for it.” He croaked after a minute or so as he finally stopped coughing.

Percy’s eyebrows shot upward.

“What?”

“I’m too young to buy them.” Nico admitted begrudgingly. 

Percy paused, seemingly not knowing what to do, before he nodded.

“I’ll grab some. Do you want to come in or-?”

“It’s fine.”

Percy nodded again, casting another look at the sick son of Hades’ before he disappeared back into the apartment. 

Nico tried to bring himself back upright, but barely managed it. A stabbing pain had started in his chest, and despite Nico’s internal pleas, it wasn’t going anywhere. Nico carefully lifted a hand to his eyes to rub at them exhaustedly, before letting it drop again. All he wanted to do was sleep, and the promise that he’d allow himself once he’d taken some tablets was all that was keeping him from crying.

Finally, Percy returned to the door, glass of water in hand and a couple of tablets.

“Sorry, we were nearly running out.” The son of Poseidon apologised.

“It’s fine.” Nico wheezed.

He quickly took the two offered tablets and downed them with some water, before passing the glass back to the boy in the door.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” Percy enquired, slightly concerned as he looked at the boy.

Nico looked much skinnier than he had been the last time Percy had seen the boy two months previously in December. His hair was also sticking up all over the place, he was pale, the skin around his eyes were red and raw and he seemed to be shivering in his worryingly thin jacket. Plus the coughs that kept tearing through the younger boy’s frame sounded horrifying. 

“It’s fine, I’ve got to go.”

“Where are you going to go?” Percy asked carefully.

The son of Hades waved a dismissive hand, instead offering the money to the boy to avoid the question.

“No, I’m not going to take your money Nico.”

Nico shoved his hand towards him again, ten dollar note still clasped in his fist.

“I’m serious.” Percy protested.

“Fine.”

“Nico, are you sure you won’t come in? You look as if you’ll pass out if you try to-”

“I’m fine. Thanks for the tablets.”

Percy opened his mouth to respond, but Nico didn’t allow him, instead shuffling off down the corridor. 

He knew he wouldn’t be able to shadow travel, he’d really pushed it by doing it twice, and if he tried it he could end up anywhere, and it wasn’t worth the risk. He shuffled carefully to the elevator, and collapsed against the wall as the doors closed and it started descending for the ground floor.

As he exited the lift and made his way out of the building, he immediately squinted as the onslaught of February sunshine made his headache even further. Glancing around, he finally noticed an alley around the back of the apartment building and sighed with relief, ducking down it. 

The alley was empty apart from trash bins for the apartment complex, and Nico sighed, ducking behind one of them and curling up into a ball. Although it wasn’t exactly warm behind the bin, and the smell was terrible, he’d grown used to it in the past year of living in the streets, so while disgusting, it wasn’t new.

Finally, as he adjusted to a position which was just barely comfortable, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

PJOHOOTOA.

Throughout dinner Percy had been quiet.

Sally and Paul had tried to coax him into conversation, and he’d tried to engage before losing himself to his thoughts again. They’d also tried outright to ask him what was going on, but other than the promise that it was nothing too serious, he hadn’t revealed anything, making the two adults resign themselves to the fact that if he really needed them, hopefully he’d let them know.

After dinner, while Percy did the dishes, Paul took the trash out, pressing a soft kiss to Sally’s cheek before he did.

He hummed lightly to himself as made his way into the elevator, and then out into the alley and carefully placed the trash into the bins. The night was freezing cold, and he muttered to himself slightly as he pulled his cardigan tighter around himself.

It was as he went to leave the alley however, that he noticed the glint of silver out of the corner of his eye from behind the bins.

Paul paused for a moment wondering whether it was worth checking out before an intense feeling washed over him. Something was calling to him to check whatever was behind the bin. Finally, he turned back towards the bin and frowned, moving a box away from the side of it. It took him a moment to realise what he’d seen before he leapt up.

Curled up behind the bins there was a kid, Paul guessed he was around ten or eleven, and he seemed oddly familiar. The kid wasn’t shivering despite being in quite thin clothing, and he seemed totally out of it. He was worryingly thin, and Paul immediately knew he had to get help.

“Kid?” Paul asked, crouching to his level.

The boy made no sign he’d heard him. 

“Kid?” He repeated.

If it wasn’t for the shuddering breaths rocking the small frame, Paul would have assumed the boy was dead.

Quickly reaching for his pocket, he cursed as he realised his phone was upstairs.

“Kid, if you can hear me, stay here okay? I’ll be right back.”

Running to the lift, Paul cursed slightly at how slowly it moved, as he headed back to the apartment.

Finally, he reached his floor, and he ran down the corridor before he pushed his way into the apartment and immediately grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch before rushing into the kitchen for his phone.

“Paul? What’s going on?” Sally asked as she saw the concerned look on her fiance’s face.

“There’s a kid passed out in the alley.”

Percy lifted his head from where he’d been staring down at the dishes, scrubbing them intently.

“How old?” He asked slowly.

“Ten? Eleven maybe? I don’t know.”

Percy cursed.

“Percy!” Sally protested.

“Sorry, I think I know who it is.”

Paul didn’t say anything, instead allowing the boy who was practically his step son to follow him down and into the alley, and a moment later Sally followed too, carefully locking their apartment door behind them.

As they reached the alley Paul immediately directed the two Jackson’s to the bin where he’d found the boy, allowing Percy to approach the boy first.

“Nico?” 

Paul briefly remembered meeting the boy a few months previously, and noted why the kid had felt familiar in the first place. Percy had introduced the kid as a friend, and he now knew that the kid was probably from the camp Percy visited in the summer, meaning the kid was a demigod.

As Percy carefully laid a hand on the boy, the kid didn’t move, and Percy cursed.

“Percy?” Sally asked carefully.

“He came by earlier, he was sick and wanted to see if he could have some tablets, he’s too young to buy them himself, he offered to pay me for them, I refused obviously, but he wouldn’t come in.”

“Should we call an ambulance?” Paul asked carefully.

“We can’t. I don’t think Nico technically exists.”

Paul’s eyebrows shot up.

“What?”

“Percy, get out of the way. Paul, can you carry him inside?” Sally asked.

“Sure.”

Percy quickly moved, and Paul carefully wrapped the blanket around the unconscious kid and carefully hoisted him into his arms. It barely took him a moment to realise how worryingly light the child was.

The group quickly made their way back into the building, and once back in the apartment, Paul carefully laid the kid on the couch while Sally rushed off to get more blankets.

“I’ll call someone from the camp, I’ll see if they can send someone for him.”

Paul nodded and Percy disappeared into his room. He quickly moved into the kitchen to grab a wet cloth before returning to the living room and placing it on the unconscious kid’s head.

When Sally returned she carefully pulled Nico’s shoes off before swaddling him in the blankets.

“Poor boy.” She murmured, placing a hand to his head to check his fever before wincing sympathetically. 

“I think we should try and wake him up.” Paul said slowly.

“Right, right, of course.”

Sally leant forward slightly, shaking the boy’s shoulder gently.

“Nico sweetheart?”

No response.

“Nico?”

It took a good five minutes of shaking and gentle name calling before the kid opened his eyes, his brow furrowed.

“Mama?” He asked, voice soft, eyes unfocussed.

Sally let out a soft sob.

“Nico, you’re at Percy’s apartment. Do you remember where you were?” Paul asked, making a clear effort to keep his voice soft.

“I r’member.”

“Good.”

“Nico, what’ve you drank today can I ask honey?” 

“Ms Jackson?” He asked, his voice confused again.

Paul frowned, the kid’s inability to focus was worrying.

“Yeah sweetheart, can you remember how much you’ve drank.”

“Glass of water.” Nico mumbled.

“Okay sweetheart, okay. I need you to stay awake until you have another drink, okay? Then you can go back to sleep.”

“M’okay.”

“Good boy.”

Paul rushed off to grab some water for the boy, and once he returned it was to Sally gently running her fingers through the boy’s hair while his body shook with harsh coughs. 

Sally shared a concerned look over the top of his head with Paul.

“Nico, kid, can you drink some water for us please?”

Nico looked confused at being spoken to as he finished coughing and unfurled himself slightly. Luckily, he easily drank the water as Sally attempted to tighten the blankets around the sick boy. She kept whispering reassurances to him as he continued to slowly drink before he collapsed down against the sofa again.

“You did so well Nico, you can try and get some more sleep if you’d like?”

The boy mumbled something before burying himself further into the blankets and immediately closing his eyes.

Sally and Paul watched the boy for a few minutes, not entirely sure what to do, before Percy returned.

“Any luck?”

“Yeah. Camp’s quite quiet at the moment, but they’re sending Will Solace and Katie Gardner to get him. Argus is driving them.”

“Good. How long will they be?” Paul asked carefully.

“About an hour.”

“Okay. Is Nico going to be okay to sleep until then? I’m not entirely sure this is just a cold.” Paul asked, looking at Sally.

“Will’s the healer at camp, he said he should be fine. He thinks Nico might have pneumonia.” Percy informed them.

“I thought you said Will was a couple of years younger than you?” Sally asked after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah, but he’s the son of Apollo and he’s the best healer at camp. His older brother Michael is an okay healer, but he’s not a year rounder.” Percy explained.

“Right.”

It wasn’t too long before Percy made his way back to his room, stating he needed to call Annabeth, so Sally pulled out her laptop to make some edits on her book while Paul marked some papers.

Finally, an hour later a soft knock on the door interrupted the silence that had filled the living room. 

“I’ll get it.” Percy called from his room, rushing back into the living room, before making his way to the door. 

It swung open, and Percy immediately smiled as he saw the people on the other side.

“Hi Katie, Will.”

“Hi, where is he?” Will asked carefully, clearly already in doctor mode.

“On the couch in the living room. Follow me.”

As soon as they entered the living room, Will immediately dropped to his knees and placed a hand on Nico’s head, muttering to himself. The rest of the people in the room watched in silence as he pulled out a stethoscope, placing it carefully on the sleeping boy’s chest, counting to himself slightly before pulling away.

“Definitely pneumonia.”

“We’ll have to take him back to camp right?” Katie asked delicately.

“Yeah, he needs rest, ambrosia and nectar won’t do too much for this.”

She nodded carefully.

“I’ll carry him down to the car.” Will said, a slight blush spreading across his cheeks.

“It’s okay kid, I’ll carry him down for you, it’ll be easier.” Paul insisted.

Will paused for a moment, a brief flash of annoyance crossing his face.

“Thank you sir.”

Paul opened his mouth to protest being called sir, but the blonde son of Apollo had already left the apartment, heading back to the car. 

Shaking his head slightly, Paul leant down and picked the sick kid up in his arms, before making his way out of the apartment, followed by the girl Percy had called Katie Gardner.

When they reached the car, at Will’s insistence, Paul gently placed the sleeping child in the middle seat, resting his head in Will’s lap and putting the boy’s feet on Katie’s lap once she said it was okay. Percy had brought down Nico’s shoes and placed them on the floor of the car.

“Thanks guys.” Percy said to them.

“No problem, see you in summer?”

“Definitely.”

“Well, see you then.”

With a brief word to the driver, Paul carefully closed the door and watched the car start up and disappear around the bend.

“Poor kid.” He muttered to himself, before following his soon to be step son back inside.

PJOHOOTOA.

Two Years Later

Nico groaned as a knock echoed through the Hades’ cabin, and it seemingly echoed through his skull.

“Nico? Are you in there?”

He groaned again, wishing the person on the other side would leave him alone.

“Nico? I’m coming in sunshine.”

Nico didn’t say anything but buried his head deep into his pillows as sunshine flooded into the cabin. 

“Nico?”

“Will?” He murmured.

He heard the door close and footsteps move towards his bed before he raised his head slightly.

“Hey sunshine, what’s the matter?” Will whispered, carefully running his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair.

“Not feeling great.”

“Yeah? Are you feeling nauseous?”

“Mmm. Plus my head hurts.”

“Okay, want me to check?”

“Mmm.”

Will carefully removed his hands from Nico’s hair before he placed the back of his hand to Nico’s head gently, and Nico shuffled closer, trying to gain some comfort. 

“Hmm, you have a bit of a fever sweetheart. I think you have a migraine.”

“Mmm.”

“Stay here okay, I’ll grab you some water and painkillers from the bathroom.”

“Thank you.” He mumured.

“It’s okay sunshine, I’ll be right back.”

Nico buried his face into his pillow again.

“Nico sweetheart, can you sit up for a few seconds while you take some tablets.”

He mumbled slightly but did as Will asked.

Once he’d finished he buried himself back into his pillows again trying to block any light at all from reaching him.

“Do you want to be left alone sweetheart, or do you want me to stay?”

“Please stay.”

“Of course.”

Nico shuffled in the bed slightly, and once Will kicked his flip flops off, he shuffled in beside his boyfriend, wrapping an arm around him and letting the son of Hades settle against his chest.

“Sorry for making you look after me.” He mumbled against the son of Apollo’s chest.

“Hey, you know I don’t mind looking after you.” His boyfriend whispered back.

Nico thought for a second, remembering the week and half Will had looked after him when he’d got pneumonia a few years prior. The son of Apollo had told him he was wanted at camp, but Nico hadn’t believed him. Will had also promised he could go to him if he was ever sick, even if he wasn’t staying at camp. He just needed to make sure he never got into such a rough state again.

“I know.” Nico finally replied.

“Good. Now, try and get some more sleep sweetheart.”

“Okay.”

He felt Will press a soft kiss to his temple, before he drifted back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review and leave kudos if you liked it.


End file.
